Making Our Goals Public

I love Fridays, and not just for the obvious reasons.

In our classroom, we spend some time every Friday afternoon thinking about our week and setting a goal for the next week.  This year, I'm trying something new with those goals which is bringing about awesome results.  I'm linking up today with Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching for her Spark Student Motivation linky party.

We all know that when we set a goal for ourselves, our chances for success become greater if we share our goal with others.  It holds us accountable.

I used to have my students write their goal for the week on a Post-it and stick it on their desk.  However, some students "forget" to do this, the Post-its fall off the desk and get recycled by the janitor, or a student's goal Post-it magically disappears throughout the week.

So this year, we are making our weekly goals a bit more public.  On the closet door at the front of our room, my students post their goals for all to see.

Throughout the week, we will read over the goals and get an update from each student on how things are going.  This is a great way to see who is working on their goal and who is not.  (We are trying to learn that goals just don't happen because we say we want them to happen.)  This also helps me see who is setting realistic, SMART goals and who is not.

Ever since we've made this change, I have noticed a lot more students are reaching their goals each week.  This is very motivating for the students, and for me!

How do you help your students reach their goals in your classroom?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

Thank you, Joanne, for hosting this weekly linky party!